‘Star Wars: Tie Fighter’: Anime Short Shows War Through The Eyes Of The Empire [Video]
Star Wars fans may be eagerly awaiting the release of The Force Awakens later this year, but a new, unofficial anime short, Tie Fighter, is sure to whet their appetites further with its amazing take on the original trilogy.
Star Wars: Tie Fighter is the work of UK artist Paul Johnson, according to CNET, and the anime short reveals an original-trilogy-era battle through the eyes of the Empire. The film is animated to appear as a cross between 1980s style anime and the popular Star Wars games of the 1990s, in a process that took Johnson a full four years worth of weekends to complete.
This fan-made ‘Star Wars’ film in 80s anime style will make you a geek if you aren’t already. http://t.co/9x0rKN36Z6 pic.twitter.com/EN5KmfOzR0
— someecards (@someecards) March 24, 2015
In the animated short, an imperial probe droid stumbles upon a rebel fleet massing in an asteroid field. Once it has alerted the Empire to the fleet’s presence, the stage is set for an epic battle, as an armada of Star Destroyers descends upon the rebels in an effort to catch them off guard. A variety of Tie Fighters and ships from the Star Wars films and Expanded Universe are present in the seven-minute-long film, including an Imperial Interdictor-class Star Destroyer that prevents the rebels from escaping to hyperspace, becoming their main target.
Must watch: TIE Fighter, ’80s anime-style Star Wars fan-made short film, hand-drawn over 4 yrs http://t.co/PnnTuPYi6z pic.twitter.com/VH3cIBH4G9
— Xeni (@xeni) March 24, 2015
In his description of the film on YouTube, Johnson revealed its roots as a tribute to Tie Fighter, the 1994 game from LucasArts.
“Drawn and animated by yours truly over 4 years’ worth of weekends, with music by the living guitar solo Zak Rahman and sound design by up and coming audio technician Joseph Leyva. Fans of Lucasarts’ seminal 1994 TIE Fighter game may notice a few familiar sights and sounds. That “incoming missile” noise gives me horrible flashbacks to this day…”
Johnson didn’t stop at the short film however, releasing the backing music, a poster, and a PDF file filled with character biographies and background information, according to BGR News. The backing track to the Star Wars short can be downloaded at Zak Rahman’s Soundcloud page, while the poster comes from Johnson’s DeviantArt account.
It took @OtaKing77077 four years to make this @starwars anime short and the result is amazing: http://t.co/CqfrGFTVA6 pic.twitter.com/LvRq9p6qed
— ScreenCrush (@screencrushnews) March 24, 2015
Though Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be preceded by a range of media, as the Inquisitr has previously reported, Johnson’s anime short stands apart, as it has given fans a whole new window into the world of the original trilogy.
[Image: Paul Johnson via Sploid]
